A Pirates Tale
by RusalkaHime
Summary: Griffin D. Troy is a strange young man. He plans ambushes with dogs, asks fish for directions, and dreams of becoming Pirate King. Join his crew of dreamers as they sail the world seeking lost parents, strength, fame, and everything in between.
1. A Boy and a Bird

**AN: **Hello everyone! Well, I finished my editing and I'm ready to re-post the story starting with the original first 4 chapters; I didn't feel the need to change anything in the very beginning though I did fix all the typos I could find.

**Disclaimer: **Insert standard disclaimer here...I do not and never will own One Piece.**  
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**A Pirate's Tale**

**Prologue**

**A Boy and a Bird**

_25 years ago a brave young man and his crew of misfits mastered the Grand Line and in doing so waged war on the World Government. This man was the Pirate King and with his crew of powerful dreamers he attempted to bring reform to the world. However, all did not go well, shortly after achieving the title of Pirate King he was captured by the leaders of the World Government and executed. Just before the Pirate King was executed the crowd asked why he was smiling, he answered, "Because there are still Adventures to be had, and Treasure to be found, and if any of you want it then you'd better hurry up and go find it 'cause it won't wait forever." And with those words the Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy died and set the stage for the next Great Age of Pirates._

It's been 20 years since Monkey D. Luffy and his crew achieved their dreams. In this time the World Government has become even more corrupt and evil, doing everything in its power to capture the existing pirate crews and stop new ones from forming.

**-/-**

It's a peaceful quiet day in the South Blue, the sun is shining brightly and there is not a cloud in the sky. The sea is calm and drifting smoothly across it is a small boat, in this boat a young man is sleeping with a brown leather tri-fold hat pulled down over his eyes. This young man's name is Griffin D. Troy. He has short dark red hair, pale blue eyes, and pale skin, with a slim build and standing about 5 foot 9 inches tall. Altogether he is a handsome young man who wears simple clothing consisting of brown pants and boots and white long-sleeved shirts. There are two brass hilted falcata sheathed on his left hip, and he has a brass hilted dagger strapped to his right leg. However, none of this matters at the moment as said young man is sleeping, leaned against the mast with nothing but a clear blue sky above him.

A few minutes pass when a large white hawk swoops down and lands on the top of the mast. It looks down at Griffin D. Troy and makes a trilling noise, when he fails to awaken it screeches loudly. The young man snorts and mumbles for a moment before falling back into a deep sleep, when suddenly the hawk swoops down and snatches the hat from his face. He awakens with a start and sits up looking at the white bird lazily gliding around the small boat. He glares at the bird before standing, "Alright I'm awake. Now give me my hat back, Crown."

The hawk circles back around to land on the mast and drops the hat onto Troy's upturned face "Ha! That always works to wake you."

Troy sets the hat upon his head and says, "Of course it does, now what was so important that you couldn't have waited for?"

"There's an island about a league to the west of here."

"Really!" Troy exclaims, "Then we should make it there in time for a late lunch."

As he works on turning the boat towards the island the hawk looks down and laughs, "Ha! You always think with your stomach Griffin, and that's fine as long as you save some for me." Troy merely snorts and works on getting to the island as fast as possible.


	2. Lion Mountain Part 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece.**  
**

* * *

**A Pirate's Tale**

**Lion Mountain Part 1**

**Of Cows and Free Islands**

A short time later finds Troy securing his boat to the pier of a thriving, if old fashioned port. After he finishes he reaches into the boat and grabs a brown leather bag and starts to walk into town only to have Crown swoop down and land on his shoulder. He looks at the bird and says "Why don't you make yourself useful for once and go find us a place to eat." With a loud screech Crown leaps into the air and starts to slowly circle the city, meanwhile Troy steps calmly into the crowded streets.

**-/-**

On another part of the island, in a small cove a large white ship is setting its anchor. Men in white and blue uniforms are scurrying across the deck tying up crisp white sails with the image of a seagull painted in blue on them followed by the word MARINE. A tall man in white pants and a blue dress shirt with dark purple hair watches as the ship is secured, and then orders the men to prepare to go ashore. He turns and steps through a door and down a hall stopping at a set of large double doors; he knocks and then enters saluting the man seated at the desk inside. "Captain Shrike, we are set to go ashore sir. We only await your presence on deck."

"Good," the captain says as he stands, "when we take possession of this pitiful island we are sure to be given not only handsome rewards but also promotions. This place has been a thorn in the side of The World Government for far too long." The captain steps forward and begins to walk toward the deck followed by his lieutenant. As he steps into the midday sun shining on the deck we can see that he his quite tall and has golden blond hair, he would be very handsome if it weren't for the disgust showing plainly in his dark eyes. He wears a crisp white suit, white captain's coat on his shoulders, and carries a golden hilted rapier on his left hip with a matching parrying dagger above it.

Upon seeing him the men salute, inform him that all is ready to go ashore, and lead him to a rowboat. As he steps into the boat with his lieutenant and six other marines he orders the boat lowered and heads to shore.

**-/-**

Back at the town Griffin D. Troy is sure he is lost. He is on a well kept dirt road with endless grain fields to his left and a large pasture with grazing cows to his right. He looks around but can't see anyone or anything resembling the town, so he walks over to the pasture's fence and calls out to the nearest cow, "Excuse me, I'm a little lost can you tell me how to get back to town?"

None of the cows even look at him, they just keep on eating their grass, and so he climbs over the fence and walks up to one of them. "Good afternoon Miss, I was wondering if you could tell me how to get back to the town?"

The cow looks up at him and says slowly, "Moo? Town? I've never been to the town. I don't know how to get there myself."

"Well, could you tell me how to get to a house? Maybe the farmer can tell me how to get back to town."

"Moo. Maybe. But I don't really know how to get to his house either." The cow answers before going back to eating her grass.

Troy reaches out and taps the cow on the nose to get her attention, "Well how do you get home if you don't know the way?"

The cow looks up again, "Oh. That. I just go where the dog tells me to, and we always get home just fine. Moo." Then she seems to stop and think for a moment, "But we always go to the barn anyway, never to the farmer's house." And she goes back to eating.

Troy starts to turn back to the road when suddenly a very angry bull charges at him. "You! Human! Stay away from my Sharla!"

Troy looks back and says, "Sharla?" But doesn't have time to consider what an odd name Sharla is for a cow before he is forced to run for his life from the charging bull. He runs and dodges his way to the tree line hoping he can jump into one of the trees and wait till the bull gets bored to leave. So, he puts his back to a sturdy looking oak and prepares to jump as the bull is charging at him, but just before he does a boy appears from behind him and runs at the bull.

**-/-**

Yuki is walking down the dirt road that runs between the fields and into town. Nothing much is happening today and that's good, boring days are always good, at least for the farmers and townspeople. However, just before passing the pasture where the cows are grazing a loud angry snort is heard. Upon climbing the fence to investigate Yuki spots a young man with his back against a tree facing off against a very angry bull. As the bull charges Yuki steps in front of the young man and runs at the bull. Meeting the bull halfway and grabbing its horns, Yuki twists and forces the bull to the ground using its own momentum and a little leverage; once the bull is down Yuki turns back to the young man standing by the trees.

**-/-**

Troy can't help but stand there shocked as a boy, who can't be older than 13, grabs the bull's horns and throws it into the ground thereby ending its charge. The boy then dusts his hands off and turns and walks back to where Troy is still standing by the tree. The boy is short, about 5 feet 2 inches, and he has short wavy black hair and dark green eyes. He is wearing blue jeans, black combat boots, and a black sleeveless shirt.

"What are you doin' just standin' there? Hurry up and get back to the road before he gets up again." The boy grabs Troy's sleeve and drags him to the fence, then shoves him over it and back onto the road.

After being shoved over the fence Troy stands and starts to brush the dirt from his pants and shirt while the boy climbs over after him, "Thanks for helping me out back there, my name's Troy." holding out his hand.

The boy looks at him oddly but shakes his hand saying, "I'm Yuki, and that was nothin'." He then walks a short way down the fence line and pikes up a dark green leather jacket with gray fur lining and slips it over his shoulders. Turning back to Troy he says, "By the way, what were you doin' in that field anyway?"

"I was just asking for directions back to town."

"What?" Yuki asks, not believing what he just heard.

"Well," he begins, "I landed here earlier in the afternoon and decided to find something to eat, but I got distracted while I was walking by these two sparrows that were arguing about where the best place to nest was and the next thing I knew I was way out here with no idea how to get back to town. So, I decided to ask someone for directions and the first person I saw was a cow named Sharla, but she didn't know how to get back to town or even to the farmer's house. And then that bull came along and started yelling at me and chasing me so I ran. And now I've met you and I hope you can give me directions back to town, please." And he clasped his hands together in front of him and looked down at Yuki with puppy dog eyes, which on a girl or young child would have been cute but on an 18 year old boy was kinda disturbing.

Yuki looks at Troy and decides that this young man has got to be crazy, but thinks _"__Oh well why not"_, and says "I'm headed to town right now why don't you come with me. That way you can't get distracted again."

Troy looks at him amazed, "Really? Thanks!" And they start walking back the way Troy had come just a short time ago.

**-/-**

After walking for a while in silence Troy is getting bored, so he decides to try and start up a conversation with Yuki. "So, that was pretty impressive what you did in the field back there. I don't know how you did it, but that bull sure went down fast."

"Hmph," Yuki says, "That was nothin', just low level martial arts training."

"So, you know martial arts? That's cool."

"Not really, every kid on this island is taught how to fight as soon as they're old enough. Some're just better than others at it."

"Really, that's cool…" Troy says unsure of what else to say then he asks, "by the way, how much farther is town?"

Yuki smiles, "We're almost there, we should be able to see it when we top this hill." Just then they reach the top of the hill and can see how the town fills the valley below and runs all the way to the sea.

"Wow, that's one heck of a view." As Troy looks down at the town he sees several people dressed in white and blue, "I didn't know there was a base on this island."

"What?" Yuki asks.

"Well," Troy says, "it looks like there are Marines down there."

"Shit!" Yuki yells, and runs down the hill toward town as fast as he can.


	3. Lion Mountain Part 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece...really I don't.**  
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**A Pirate's Tale**

**Lion Mountain Part 2**

**The Protection of Peace**

Troy stares at him for a moment before he runs after Yuki trying to catch up. When Troy finally gets to town he is thoroughly winded, but as he catches his breath he sees Yuki standing very still, glaring at a blond man in a white suit. On the ground at the blond man's feet is and older man dressed in a pair of hakama and a simple kimono. "Give up and I'll let him live," says the blond man as he points a pistol at the old man.

As Troy catches his breath he notices a dog glaring angrily at the marines around them, so he calls it over to him and whispers in its ear. After a moment it nods at him and runs off into the crowd, then he stands and walks up behind Yuki, "Wow, the tension sure is thick around here. So, would anyone mind telling me exactly what's going on?"

"Well, my name is Captain Shrike, young man and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of matters that don't concern you," the white suited man says sharply.

Without removing his eyes from the captain's Yuki says, "Captain Shrike over there has been trying to force this island to join with the World Government for over six months, and apparently he's decided that killing innocent old men will force us to comply."

"Hmmm...I thought as much." Troy says then he turns to Yuki and says, "You know this is just one reason why I decided to become a pirate." Then suddenly he winks at Yuki and whistles.

Yuki for the most part doesn't understand what Troy is trying to do, but he decides to try and play along. However as Troy whistles and several dogs jump out of the crowd behind the marines he begins to understand. Quickly the dogs jump the captain and biting him, drag him away form the old man and while the other marines are busy fighting off the dogs, Troy darts toward the old man and begins helping him away from the captain. As Yuki runs to help he notices that the captain has freed the hand he's holding the pistol in and is aiming at Troy's back, so he lunges forward and as the shot rings out Yuki is thrown backwards by the force of the bullet.

**-/-**

Troy is shocked as he sees Yuki hit the ground next to him and roll a few feet away. He lets the villagers take care of the old man and hurries over to Yuki, when Troy reaches his side Yuki is laying on his back pressing his hand to his right side while blood slowly seeps between his fingers. Troy looks at him with a worried expression on his face, "Shit, you need a doctor."

Troy starts to help Yuki to his feet trying to get him away from the Marines and their guns, "I'll be fine," Yuki says with a pained grimace.

The Marines are still occupied with the dogs so Troy turns his back to them as he helps Yuki to his feet, when suddenly Yuki kicks him hard in the side, throwing him several feet away. He sits up holding his side, "Owww...what was that for?" and sees Yuki fighting the marine Captain with a knife. _"I wonder where he got that knife from, it looks awfully familiar..."_ he thinks to himself. Then he sees a very familiar white feather dangling from the knife's pommel, _"Huh?"_ He looks at his leg only to see an empty sheath, _"When did he get my knife?" _But hearing the sound of metal hitting metal he looks back to the fight.

**-/-**

When he saw the Captain preparing to stab Troy from behind Yuki reacted on instinct. He twisted kicking Troy hard in the ribs throwing him out of the way while grabbing the knife at the same time. The knife isn't what he's used to wielding but he makes it work as he skillfully parries and dodges each swift sword stroke made by the Captain's rapier and parrying dagger. Yuki is faring well against the captain until a stone shifts under his foot sending him toppling backwards into the side of a building. With a loud thud his back hits the wall and he barely has time to bring the knife up to block the slender rapier as it is thrust at his chest. Then out of the corner of his right eye he sees the dagger coming in to slash at him and he kicks out with his right foot and catches the captain's hand, forcing them into a stalemate.

"You know that you can't stay like this forever, you should just give up and let me take this island." Then Captain Shrike sneers, "A little boy like you could never protect this place."

"Grrrr, Shut up Shrike," Yuki growls at him, "as long as the people here still live, neither you nor the World Government will take this place from us."

As Captain Shrike opens his mouth to speak a shout comes from the crowd of people in the street, "Yuki! It's done!"

Yuki glances over and sees a large orange haired man pushing his way through the crowd with something long and green in his hands. "Finally," Yuki whispers, then he looks back at Captain Shrike, "let's finish this." Yuki suddenly pushes the knife up and to the left forcing the rapier blade into the wall over his left shoulder, then he dives out into the street.

As Yuki passes by his left hand Captain Shrike slashes with his parrying dagger and manages to catch the back of Yuki's calf, making a shallow cut. Then he puts his foot to the wall and frees his rapier. Turning he lunges after Yuki with the rapier, trying to stab him in the back.

As Yuki runs across the street the orange haired man throws the green object and we can see that it's a long katana with a white and gold sheath wrapped with green cord. Yuki leaps into the air and catches it as the Captain lunges at him, and in one instant he drops one foot and spins drawing the sword as he does so. Then continuing the spin he turns and blocks the rapier, snapping the blade, and upon landing the katana is twisted and brought to a halt at the captain's throat.

Captain Shrike freezes as soon as he feels the blade at his throat causing Yuki to smirk, "Now who's at the disadvantage Captain?"

The Captain looks at Yuki and smiles, "You. Lieutenant Fire!"

Yuki glances to the side and sees a rifle aimed at him but before he pulls the trigger they hear a shrill screech and suddenly a white hawk grabs the rifle and pulls it out of the Lieutenant's hands.

Then in desperation the Captain yells, "Men fire!" But when he looks over to where his men are he sees that they are all sprawled on the ground and Troy is standing over them.

"I don't think they'll be shooting anyone Captain," Troy says with a smile as he takes the rifle from the talons of the white hawk as it lands gracefully on his outstretched arm.

Yuki grins as he looks back at the Captain, "Leave here and swear to never bother this island or it's people ever again and I'll let you live."

Captain Shrike grinds his teeth and growls, "Fine. I swear to never come back to this island ever."

Hearing this Yuki nods and steps back and sheathing his katana says, "Good. Now get your men out of our streets, and off our island."


	4. Lion Mountain Part 3

**Disclaimer: **I only own the original characters, I do not own One Piece.**  
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**A Pirate's Tale**

**Lion Mountain Part 3**

**A Girl!**

As soon as Captain Shrike and his Marines have stomped out of sight Yuki falls to his knees in the street and Troy runs over to him causing the hawk to take flight again. As he lifts the near unconscious Yuki off the ground Troy asks, "Is there a doctor around here somewhere?"

A tall, thin, middle aged man with long, black hair steps out of the crowd, "My office is right this way."

So, Troy follows him into a small office and lays Yuki on one of the beds as a nurse comes over and begins drawing a curtain around the area, "Excuse me sir, but you can take a seat over by the wall. It's improper for a man to see a young lady undressed."

Troy steps toward the seats by the wall when suddenly he turns and exclaims, "Wait a second, you mean he's a she?"

At that moment the Doctor is walking back into the room with a metal tray covered with surgical supplies, "Yes, most people have that reaction to our little Yuki," he says as he steps behind the curtain with the nurse. After about 15 minutes the nurse pulls back the curtain as Yuki is pulling her shirt over her head, "You're very lucky that the bullet didn't go any deeper," the Doctor says. "If it had it could have done considerable damage to your internal organs. Please be more careful in the future," he asks as he washes his hands in a bowl of water.

"I'll try Doc but you know I can't promise anything," Yuki says as she slides off of the bed and picks up her jacket. "But anyway Doc, if I keep building up my muscles little bullets like that will never do me much harm." Then she turns to him and gives the Doctor a sweet smile that reminds him of her mother, "Thanks Doc."

"So, you really are a girl," Troy states, thoroughly breaking the moment.

Yuki gives him a bored glare, "Yes, I'm a girl." She walks around the bed and stops in front of him, "Does that change your opinion of me?"

"Not really," Troy says smiling, "I still think you're really cool, especially now that I know you use a sword." Then he puts a hand on her shoulder, "You know what? I could use someone with your skill on my crew, why don't you come with me when I leave?"

"Wait," She exclaims, "You mean you really are a pirate!"

"Yep. I wouldn't have said so if I wasn't," he says as they exit the office.

As soon as they step onto the street they hear a loud screech above them, and suddenly a large, white hawk lands on Troy's shoulder, "Where have you been?"

"I was inside until just now," Troy says confused.

"No," Crown screeches, "Where were you before that? When you were supposed to be finding food?" He prompts.

Troy looks sheepish and scratches his head, "Oh yeah...that. Well I was..."

"Don't tell me you got lost again Griffin," Crown accuses.

They talk back and forth about how Troy did not get lost again because he wasn't paying attention, meanwhile Yuki is looking at Troy like he's crazy. After all he is talking to a bird, but then she remembers that when she first met him Troy told her he was asking a cow for directions. Thinking about this while they argue she comes to a conclusion, "You ate a Devil Fruit didn't you, Troy." They pause and turn to look at her as she continues, "One that allows you to speak to and understand animals right. That's how you knew that cow's name was Sharla and how you're able to talk to that hawk, right?"

The bird in question squawks indignantly at her, "His name is Crown," Troy corrects, "And yeah I ate the Hiso Hiso no mi when I was a kid. It allows me to talk to any kind of animal and to understand them, it's pretty useful." Crown squawks at Troy again, "You're right, I kinda forgot about that," Troy says to him.

"What did he say?" Yuki asks.

"He said that he's hungry and now that I think about it I never did get lunch," Troy says with a small smile.

Yuki looks at them and raises an eyebrow, "Really, well I guess I could show you a good place to eat." She heads off down the street and looks over her shoulder, "Follow me."

**-/-**

After a healthy, though some would say large, lunch Troy again asks Yuki if she'll join his crew. Yuki says that she would like to but that she needs some time to think about it, then she offers to let him and Crown stay at her mother's house if they don't already have a place to stay for the night. Troy accepts and asks if her mother will mind but Yuki says it won't bother her, so after paying the bill they set out toward the hills and Yuki's house.

After walking through the hills for a while they come to a large mountain of bare stone, "This is Lion Mountain, this is where the island gets it's name." Then continuing Yuki says, "A long time ago martial artists from all over the world would come here to test their strength against the lions that lived on the mountain. They would challenge the mountain and to prove that they beat it they'd bring back the head of the lion they killed. Well, after being hunted for so long the lions started to die out and now it's very rare to see them at all and it's considered good luck if you manage to see one and live 'cause they're very violent."

Troy stares at the mountain for a while, "Wow, so have you ever seen a lion?"

Yuki stops walking and looks back, "Nope." Then she starts walking again, "Don't bother looking for any, they're probably all dead by now anyway."

They walk around the edge of the mountain for a short while before coming to a river, beside which is a traditional Japanese style house. Troy looks at the house and admires the fine details but as they get closer he notices something odd about it. Wondering why he thought that the house was odd Troy looks closer at it when suddenly it strikes him, even though it's already dark under the trees of the forest there are no lights showing through the windows. _"Yuki mentioned her mother,"_ he thinks, _"so why aren't there lights lit inside the house?"_

However, before he can ask about it Yuki steps onto the porch and takes off her boots. Then as Troy is removing his shoes she grabs a lantern from the wall and lights it, "Well here we are, Home sweet home," then she opens the door and says, "Oh, by the way Crown, feel free to come inside if you want or you can stay in the garden on the other side of the house." Crown nods his head and leaps into the air disappearing over the house, as Troy follows Yuki into the house.

Inside Troy can see that the house is well kept if a little dusty, and as they walk down a hall he can see that some of the rooms look more used than others. Yuki takes him to what looks like a sitting room and opens a door at the far side showing a beautiful garden and the river. Then turning she says, "Feel free to make yourself at home I'll be right back with something to drink."

As she is leaving the room Troy asks, "You said your mother lived here with you, if so where is she?"

Yuki stops and turns back to Troy, "No, what I said was that this was my mother's house and it is but she doesn't live here anymore."

"Really, then where is she?"

"She's out on the cliff where you can see the ocean," Yuki calmly says as she turns to leave again, "She died two years ago." As Troy looks stunned she walks down the hall and disappears into another room.

"Nice one Griffin," Crown says from his perch in a pear tree, "Way to bring up bad memories."

Troy stands and walks after Yuki, "Shut up Crown."

**-/-**

When Troy steps into the well lit kitchen he sees a boiling kettle on the stove, chopped vegetables on the counter with various spice bottles scattered around them, and everything you would need to make a beef curry dish, minus the beef. He looks around the kitchen trying to find Yuki when the kettle starts whistling. Suddenly the door to his left opens and Yuki steps through holding two white packages. After setting the packages on the counter she removes the kettle form the stove and pours the water into a teapot. "You know, you could have just waited," She says as she places a filled tea cup on the table beside him, "Well, have a seat."

As he sits she goes back to the counter and opens one of the packages revealing a good sized piece of beef that she proceeds to cut into small pieces and season before placing into a pot to cook. As she goes about cooking Troy says, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asks.

"For bringing up bad memories," he says, "If I had known I wouldn't have said anything."

"It's not your fault, and anyway it's not like I'm still mourning for her. After all," she continues, "she wasn't murdered or anything she died a natural death, so there was never anything to really mourn for," she says as she places all of the items on the counter into the pot with the beef and walks to the table with her own teacup.

As she sits Troy asks, "So, what was your mother like?"

Yuki smiles and sips her tea, "My mother was a strong person with a strong sense of Justice, and she was a great swordsman even though she could be very clumsy sometimes." After pausing to sip her tea Yuki asks, "So, what's your mother like?"

Troy grins, "Mom is tough. She's pretty and she sings great and she raised two boys by herself while running the busiest tavern in town. She also supports both mine and my brother's dreams," a buzzing sound is suddenly heard from the stove.

Yuki walks to the stove and turns off the timer and heat, "Well dinner's ready," she says while taking the pot off the stove and pulling out plates. She places plates, spoons, rice, and the tea onto a tray that she hands to Troy, then grabbing the pot and a white package from the counter she leads him back to the sitting room.

After setting everything out on a low table she steps into the garden with the white package. "Crown?" she calls out and soon he is standing on the ground next to her. Then she crouches down and opens the package, "I wasn't sure if you'd like the curry so I brought you some smoked fish." She sets the fish on the ground as Crown makes a trilling noise.

"He says 'Thank you, I love smoked fish,'" Troy translates from inside.

"You're welcome," Yuki says as Crown starts to eat. Then she steps back into the house and sits down to her own dinner. After dinner Yuki asks, "Troy, you said that you had a dream. What is it?"

Troy looks at the ceiling and smiles. Then looking at her he says, "I want to find One Piece and be King of the Pirates."

She looks at him surprised, "That's a pretty big dream. Do you really think you can do it?"

"Sure I can," he says, "Mom always told me that if I'm going to dream I should dream big, that way the adventure getting to my dream will be that much more fun." He waits for her to respond and when she doesn't he asks, "So, do you have a dream?"

She doesn't answer him, instead she says, "Help me take these dishes into the kitchen and then I'll show you to the guest room."

**-/-**

Later that night one of the screened doors leading to the garden slides open, and in the pale moonlight we can see Troy sitting just behind it. "Crown," he says in a soft voice, "Come over here."

The sound of wings fluttering is heard then quiet scratching, "What is it Griffin?"

"We're leaving at first light tomorrow."

"What about the girl?"

"I think it might be better if she stays here. I'm not sure if she really wants to go and I don't want to force her."

There is a long pause, "I understand. I'll wake you before dawn then." A quiet fluttering sound is heard again, then the door slides shut and only the moon is left to watch the night pass.

**-/-**

In the predawn hours when the sky is just beginning to lighten Troy hears scratching at his door. He quietly gets up and opens it to find Crown standing on the porch leading into the garden. Troy quickly dresses and gathers his things then turning back to Crown he whispers, "I'm going to leave her something to repay her for helping us. You go ahead and wait by the path."

Crown nods and disappears over the house while Troy slides the door closed. Stepping quietly into the hall Troy walks a short way and stops in front of another door, he carefully slides it open a few inches and looks into the room. Suddenly he pushes the door the rest of the way open, inside he can see that the bed is neatly made and Yuki is nowhere in sight. He turns and quickly runs to the front of the house, "Crown!" he cries as he throws open the door.

"What's the matter?" Crown asks as he lands on Troy's shoulder.

"Yuki is gone; can you try to find her for me?"

"I'll try, but do you have any idea where she might have gone?"

Troy calms down and thinks back to last night's conversation, "She said that her mother was buried on the cliffs where she could see the sea. Maybe Yuki went there."

"I'll look," Crown says as he takes to the air and turns east.

Meanwhile Troy is trying to find a path to the sea. He is stuck on the riverbank unable to cross, when he sees a small bridge. Quickly crossing he finds a path and follows it until he suddenly steps out of the forest and is blinded by the rising sun. After shielding his eyes and blinking away the spots he sees Yuki sitting with her back to him, while Crown is perched on a tall memorial stone.

"Last night you asked me what my dream was and I didn't answer. My dream is to find the man with the white sword, the Strongest Swordsman in the world, and defeat him." Then she stands and turns to him, "What do you say to that Pirate King?"

Troy looks into her determined eyes and says, "Welcome aboard." Then holding out his hand he says, "My name is Griffin D. Troy and I welcome you as the First Mate of the White Hawk Pirates."

Yuki takes his hand in a firm grip, "It's a pleasure to come aboard Captain."

As the sun continues to rise over Lion Mountain they make their way back to the harbor, but just before they leave the forest Troy turns back and sees a huge white lion looking at him. He waits for it to speak but when it doesn't Troy bows to it and turns back to the path.

Most of the town is just waking up as they pass through, but some shop owners are already at work. Yuki stops in one of these shops and collects supplies for them while Troy slides a letter under the door to the clinic. _"I wonder what's in the letter," _he thinks as Crown lands on his shoulder and they walk to the harbor.

Yuki greets them at the docks with two large bags, "So, which boat is ours?"

Pointing down the line at a small, single-masted boat, "She's not much but she'll be fine until we get more crew members."

After loading the supplies onto the boat they set off heading south to the next island. As they sail away Yuki looks back and thinks, _"I'm finally on my way mother. Don't worry, I'll make you proud."_

* * *

**An: **I hope you like the story so far, I'll try to have the next chapter posted soon; and just a warning...it's a long one.

Also, If anyone wants to see what the characters look like in my head (or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof_) _I've posted some sketches on my deviantArt site_._ Just go to my profile and follow the link to my homepage.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! _  
_


	5. The Beginning of Adventure Part 1

**AN: **Hi everyone! Here is the event you've all been waiting for the first of the rewritten chapters. I hope you all enjoy reading it, and as always feel free to leave a review**. **I promise you that I read every review you leave even if I don't always respond to them (for one reason or another). Anyway, have fun reading and let me know what you think of the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **No. I don't own One Piece.

* * *

**A Pirate's Tale**

**The Beginning of Adventure Part 1**

**Firefights and Vengeance: The Tale of a Boy**

The sun has risen high into the sky and the sea is shining beautifully as a small boat laden with two people and a bird swiftly sails away from Lion Mountain. The island is nothing more than a large green dot behind them as they sail onward to a new destination. Yuki is sitting at the front of the boat with her back to the shining sea; she has taken off her jacket, folded it and placed it on the deck behind her. She lays back and covers her eyes with one arm as if to go to sleep, "So, Captain where are we headed?"

There is a slight pause, "Well, I heard there was an island a few days to the south so I thought we'd go there."

"And what's the name of this island?" Yuki asks.

"Hmmm...I don't know," Troy says thoughtfully, "I forgot to ask."

There is a short pause when suddenly Yuki sits up, "You forgot to ask? You mean you don't have a map?"

"Nope. The dolphin that told me about the island said it was a two day journey for him, but since our boat can't go as fast as a dolphin I thought it might take us as long as five days to get there," Troy finishes with a thoughtful look on his face.

Yuki stares at him for a while then says, "You mean you asked a fish for directions."

"Yep."

"Why didn't you buy a map in town?"

"Well, this usually works just fine for me so why waste my money?" Troy asks innocently.

Yuki sighs and falls back to the deck, "I'm starting to regret coming with you."

"Don't worry, everything will work out just fine," Troy says with a carefree smile on his face.

**-/-**

They reach the next island in the middle of the night with the sky overcast and the only light coming from the flash of cannons and the fires burning across the city. As their small boat approaches the port they watch as a large ship continually fires its cannons at the city. Suddenly Yuki hears a high pitched whistle and as it gets louder she stands rocking their small boat. Troy quickly sits up and grabs the sides of the boat to keep from being tossed out; as the rocking stops he looks up and starts to ask her what she's doing when she grabs him by the shirt and leaps overboard dragging him with her. Just as Yuki clears the side of their little boat with Troy in one hand and their bags in the other a cannonball smashes the boat into kindling. The explosion pushes them further from the remains of their boat before they fall into the warm waters of the South Blue.

As Troy falls into the sea he feels the familiar, frightening sensation of his body going numb and refusing to move. It's dark under the waves and he can feel the sea pulling him down deeper into the darkness when suddenly he stops and then he is jerked out of the water. He sputters as his head clears the water. When he can breathe freely again he realizes that he is resting on one of Yuki's slender shoulders and that she's holding him by the front of his shirt.

"You alright?" she asks as his coughing subsides.

He coughs one last time before weakly answering, "Yeah, but I'll be better when we get out of the water."

She chuckles and says, "Hang on Captain."

He somehow manages to lift his arms out of the water and wrap them around her shoulders before he rests his head on her shoulder and she starts making her way slowly toward the shore. Suddenly he lifts his head and exclaims, "Wait a minute! Where's my hat?"

"Relax Griffin, I rescued it." Troy looks up and can barely make out Crown's white feathers against the dark sky, "I'll wait for you on the shore," he says as he turns and flies off into the dark night.

When Crown can no longer be seen Yuki says, "We'd better follow him if we want to get there before dawn."

"Yeah," Troy agrees as she begins swimming again. After a few minutes he once again rests his head on her shoulder as they slowly make their way to the burning town.

**-/-**

It takes a while but they eventually reach the docks where Yuki manages to drag herself and Troy from the water and they both lay on the boards enjoying the feel of solid ground. By the time they reach shore the cannon fire has stopped and most of the fires have burned out. The city is eerily quiet as they catch their breath and they find themselves wondering exactly what happened and why the large ship anchored a short distance off shore attacked the town so viciously. After a while, during which Yuki has dozed off, Troy sits up and looks at the area surrounding the docks. The buildings are broken, some displaying only a few holes while others have completely crumbled and there seems to be a fire still burning in the distance, but there are no people. He can't see or hear anyone in this part of town and that seems very strange to him; even at this late hour there should be someone moving around trying to clean up or at least make sure the fires are out.

"Hey Yuki," he says conversationally and gets a hum in response, "Don't you think it's weird that no one seems to be around?"

She yawns, "Yeah, this place looks more like a ghost town than anything else right now."

"Then how about we go exploring," Troy says with a grin.

"Sure, why not," Yuki remarks as she stands with a stretch and grabs her bag before tossing Troy his, "Where you wanna go Cap'n?"

Troy catches his bag and throws it over his shoulder as he hums, "I think we should split up so we can cover more ground. We'll meet at that big fountain at dawn. Ok?"

"Sure Cap'n."

**-/-**

Yuki starts walking away from the setting moon, she thinks she's heading east but isn't really sure. She's never been very good at telling which direction is which; she just hopes that she doesn't get lost.

The section of town she's walking through looks like it was hit especially hard by the cannon barrage, there are large holes in the sides of several buildings and bits of stone and wood litter the streets everywhere. She has to be very careful as she climbs over and around some of the larger pieces; as she winds her way deeper into the town she wonders if anyone could have survived all of this destruction.

**-/-**

Troy heads straight into the heart of town and soon comes across what must be the Mayor's house. The house has been ransacked and almost all of the windows broken but it still stands tall. As Troy steps carefully over the broken front door and into the house he thinks he sees a faint light flicker at the back of the main hallway. He's not sure if it's his imagination or not but he decides that it's worth checking out. He walks down the hallway as silently as he can; trying to avoid stepping on any of the broken glass and wood that covers the floor. The light he saw has already disappeared so he checks every room he passes for any signs that someone might have been there. Finally he is at the end of the hallway and finds himself in the kitchen, he sees no one there but before he leaves a mouse runs across his foot. "Hey there little one," he says gently to the tiny mouse as he motions for it to come back.

It turns and slowly creeps back to where Troy is crouching on the kitchen floor. When it stops it's just out of the reach of Troy's arms and it looks up at him with frightened eyes as it asks, "D-d-did you j-just speak to m-me?" in a small, very frightened voice.

"Yeah I did little guy," Troy says gently and quietly, "I was wondering if you would answer a question or two for me." When the mouse gives a slight nod Troy asks, "Have you seen any people around here recently?"

The mouse's small nose quivers slightly as it shakily answers, "T-t-there was a lot of n-n-noise that started just after the sun disappeared but it stopped a while ago, and since then the p-p-people have been hiding." It pauses for a moment then continues, "But I smelled some p-p-people just before I came out."

"Really," Troy says hopefully while still trying to be quiet, "Would you mind showing me where you smelled the people?"

"Ok-k-kay," the mouse says as he climbs onto Troy's outstretched hand.

The mouse leads Troy through a closet at the back of the kitchen and down a well hidden staircase into the wine cellar. There are shelves and casks of beer and wine lining the walls. Troy doesn't see anyone there and there are no doors in the room. "Are you sure you smelled the people down here?" he skeptically asks the small brown mouse.

"Y-y-yes I c-can smell them," the mouse climbs up to sit on Troy's shoulder and turns around in a circle sniffing the air. After a few moments he says, "I t-t-think I can s-s-smell them behind t-t-that big r-round thing over there," it says timidly as it looks at a large wine cask by the back wall.

The mouse clings to Troy's shirt as he walks over to the wine cask. Troy looks at the very large, almost man sized cask and wonders how he's going to move it. As he starts to try and push the cask away from the wall he realizes that something isn't quite right, he taps on it and is rewarded with a hollow sound. Troy runs his hands over the cask searching for something out of place, as he gets to the bottom where it rests on the rack he feels a small piece of wood jutting out of the cask. He tries to push the piece but it won't budge so he pulls on it, his efforts are rewarded by an almost inaudible *Click* as the front of the cask swings smoothly open on well oiled hinges.

"Wow! A secret passage," Troy says excitedly before climbing into the cask. He makes his way down the dark passage slowly feeling for a door or other exit; he doesn't have to go very far before he feels a door in front of him. He easily finds the latch and pushes the door open only to be blinded by the light on the other side. When his vision clears he sees a large room filled with people of all ages staring at him frightfully, however before he can say anything to them a sword is put to his throat.

**-/-**

Yuki has walked almost to the edge of the town and is just about to turn and start back when she hears faint laughter echoing through the streets ahead. She carefully and as quietly as she can follows it until she can see a large bonfire burning on the beach just outside of town. While hiding behind some rubble she makes her way to the end of the street and is angered by what she sees.

On the beach just ahead is a large group of pirates eating and drinking around a bonfire, laughing as a dog barks and nips at a young girl tied to a stake nearby. The girl is crying and screaming obviously scared of the dog but the pirates just laugh at her, the dog gets very close to her and starts to chew and tear at her dress when suddenly a long leg kicks out from the other side of the stake; an older child that Yuki didn't see at first kicks the dog hard in the side of its head and yells angrily, "Leave her alone!" The dog yelps when it's hit and rolls across the sand causing the pirates to laugh even more, then whimpering it scampers away from the fire.

Yuki only now realizes that she is clutching her sword to her side and is about to draw it, calming herself she relaxes her grip and looks across the beach. She can see several stakes rising from the sand across the beach, all of them with the shadowed forms of children at their bases and down by the water she can see people with their hands bound being loaded onto small boats; looking out to the sea Yuki can barely see the shadowed form of a large ship bobbing on the waves. Turning back to the pirates she can see that one of them, maybe their captain, has walked over to the two children who were being harassed by the dog and is talking to them. Straining her ears Yuki listens carefully to what he is saying.

Laughing he says, "You're a strong one aren't ya girl. I hope ya act that feisty when you're on the auction block, it'll make me more money." The girl growls at him and tries to kick him but he just laughs and walks back to the other pirates.

Yuki's seen enough by now, she knows she has to get those children out of there but she can't do it by herself. She has to get back and meet up with Troy; he'll know exactly what to do. So with that thought in mind Yuki quickly and quietly heads back to the big fountain.

**-/-**

Troy, not used to having swords at his throat, carefully raises his hands, "Umm...Hi..." he pauses, "Uhh...I come in peace...," he says with a nervous smile.

"What are you doing here Pirate?" the man holding the sword asks sharply.

"Well, after our boat was blasted out from under us we managed to get to the docks but were surprised when we didn't see anyone so we decided to come into town and try to figure out what happened." Troy answers honestly.

"Mr. Crawford," an older man says calmly from the corner of the room, "Let the young man go."

Mr. Crawford is shocked, "But Mayor..." he starts.

"This boy means us no harm," the Mayor states with calm authority, "Let us hear what he has to say." Mr. Crawford lowers his sword and steps back allowing Troy to step fully into the room as the Mayor walks across the room towards him. "I am Alliass Wilson young man and I'd like to apologize for the harsh welcome," he says wearily while holding out his hand to Troy.

Troy shakes his hand while saying, "Don't worry about it. But what happened here?"

"We were attacked by a vicious group of pirates earlier this evening," Mayor Alliass answers, "They destroyed the town and captured many of the townsfolk, mostly young women and men, though we're not sure for what purpose. Those who I could find I brought here to hide," he continues, "I'm afraid that the pirates are going to stay around and I'm not sure what they would do if they found us."

"Hmm..." Troy says thoughtfully, "That is something to be concerned about. I hope Yuki doesn't run into them while exploring the town."

"Your friend is in the town?" Mayor Alliass says worried, "You should go find him and get away from here as soon as possible. Who knows what would happen if those pirates found out there were other pirates in town." The old man begins shooing Troy back out the door, "Hurry, go and find your friend and leave here. For your own safety," Mayor Alliass says urgently.

"Thanks for telling me what happened," Troy says cheerfully, "And don't worry about us we'll be fine. We're both strong," he continues as he's crawling back through the passage to the secret door. As he climbs out he turns and looks back at the old Mayor, "And don't worry about your people, I'll make sure those pirates don't hurt them." Before the Mayor can warn him not to go after the other pirates Troy closes the secret door.

As he passes through the house hurrying back to the fountain Troy thanks the small brown mouse and finds it some food in the pantry. Then he quietly hurries back to the fountain to meet up with Yuki.

**-/-**

Yuki can't believe that she got lost, she's been wandering around this area for a while now and everything looks the same to her; she walks down a dark street and turns left and she can see light ahead and carefully creeps forward only to find herself in a small park. The park is full of greenery and seems almost completely untouched by the attack earlier. While looking around the park Yuki realizes that the light she saw earlier was the first hints of dawn lighting the sky in the east. She hurries through the park and into the streets beyond and somehow manages to find her way back to the port; she is running as quietly as she can when she trips over something. She barely manages to keep her balance and skids to a stop before turning back to see what tripped her. In the middle of the alley is the body of a boy and Yuki hurries over to see if he's alive; she rolls him onto his back and can see that he is breathing though he looks like he has a nasty head wound. She carefully picks him up and continues on her way to the fountain to meet Troy.

**-/-**

Yuki is late, very late, Troy thinks as he sits on the side of the large fountain waiting; the sun has already begun to rise and the streets are steadily being filled with light. Just as he stands and decides to go look for her she stumbles out of a small alley carrying a black bundle over her left shoulder. She seems out of breath as she stops at the fountain in front of him, "Sorry Cap'n," she pants "I got lost."

"That's ok," Troy says as he pokes at her burden, "What's this?"

She slides the bundle from her shoulder while saying, "I found him in an alley on my way back here."

Troy leans down and looks at the blood that has dried in the boy's flame red hair, "Looks like he got into some kind of trouble. Lets find a place to stay for the day then we'll take a look at that head wound."

So, as the sun rises Troy and Yuki wander further into the town in search of a place to rest.

**-/-**

After searching for a while they come across what looks to be a small clinic; the windows are broken and the door is hanging ajar but the building seems to be solid. Going inside they find broken glass everywhere but only the front room of the clinic has been ransacked, the back room looks mostly untouched, so they lay the boy on a clean cot and separate to search for supplies. Troy heads immediately to the cabinets that line the back wall to look for medicine and bandages so Yuki decides to try and find water to wash the blood out of the boy's hair.

**-/-**

Troy digs through drawers and opens cabinets until he finds a drawer filled with rolls of white gauze and a cabinet with several neatly labeled bottles and jars inside. He reads each label before carefully pushing it aside until he comes to a small box, also neatly labeled. He takes the box and a jar from behind it before closing the cabinet; then carefully balances a few rolls of gauze on top of the box before heading back to the boy's cot. He settles his burdens on a nearby table before leaving again only to return a moment later with two small stools which he sets near the table. After seating himself on one of the stools he opens the box and begins removing items from it and laying them out on the table. He removes a small brown bottle, a spool of dark thread, several thin needles, and a small pair of scissors; just as he finishes laying everything out on the table Yuki comes through the door at the back of the clinic with several items that she sets on the table next to the small box.

"I found a small kitchen in the back of the building," she says as she sets a bowl of water and several small white towels on the table; then as she gets a good look at the items he's setting out, "What's all that?"

"It's a kit for stitching wounds," Troy answers calmly, "I figured under all that hair and dried blood he may have a pretty nasty wound."

Yuki moves the second stool to the side of the cot and they start to carefully wash the blood from the boy's bright red hair; the wound is a large, deep cut to the right side of his head that starts to bleed again as soon as the dried blood is cleared from it. With the wound clean Troy takes a cotton ball and applies some of the medicine from the brown bottle to the cut and then uses a clean towel to clear away the fresh blood. The cut is bleeding much slower as Troy takes a threaded needle from the table and starts to sew the cut closed while Yuki watches; he works very slowly and seems to be concentrating very hard on the tiny stitches that he is putting in the boy's scalp. When he finishes sewing, Troy cuts the thread with a small pair of scissors before leaning back and stretching, "Well, I think that should do."

"How'd you know how to do that?" Yuki asks quietly.

"I watched Mom fix up a couple of drunks after a fight once. Though it's a lot harder than it looks." Troy starts to say something else when he suddenly yawns.

"I agree," Yuki says as she stands and stretches, "It's been a long night and we both could use some sleep," reaching down she hands Troy his bag and goes to get hers from the front of the room. She brushes the glass off of one of the cots under the windows before settling in for a nap, using her bag as a pillow with her sword propped against the side of the cot. Troy puts away the medicines and takes the bowl into the kitchen so it can be washed later then he cleans off a cot near the boy and quickly falls asleep, all the while wondering what he's forgetting.

**-/-**

It's noon when Yuki is woken by the sun shining in her eyes; she sits-up and yawns before standing and moving to a dark corner to continue her nap.

**-/-**

He doesn't know whether it's the dull pounding in his head or the grumbling in his belly that wakes him but he knows that he's awake. Opening his eyes he sees a white ceiling high above him and wonders where he is and how he got here, he's considering going back to sleep when he hears a loud snort; turning his head he sees an older boy with dark red hair sleeping on a cot nearby. 'Who is this guy and why does he have to snore so loudly?' the boy thinks as he lies on the cot, 'There's no way I'm gonna get back to sleep now. Maybe I can find something to eat.' He sits up and immediately puts a hand to his head, 'Why is my head spinning?' he asks himself as he realizes that there is something strange in his hair, however before he can investigate further he hears a loud noise followed by glass crunching. Turning towards the sound he sees several people standing by the door and he suddenly remembers why his head hurts.

"Well, lookie what we have here," a tall blond haired man says to his companion.

"So, this is where the kid ran off to," a dark skinned man says, "I told you that wouldn't kill him."

"Bet the Boss'd be real happy if we brought him back," the blond says.

"But what if he fights like last time?"

Then we'll have less to carry," the blond says with an evil grin.

Just then Troy sits up and groggily looks around the room before yawning and flopping back onto the cot.

"And if his friend interferes then we'll kill him too," the blond continues, "Hell, maybe we'll kill him anyway."

"Oh really?" a voice asks curiously from behind them.

They turn quickly to find Yuki standing behind them with her sword drawn and as they draw their weapons an almost feral grin spreads across her face, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Yeah well we're not you," the blond man growls as he and the dark skinned man attack at the same time.

"Obviously," Yuki says calmly as she strikes them both down with a single move. After sheathing her sword Yuki drags both of the unconscious men further into the room where, after retrieving some rope from a storage room, she ties them up before walking over to Troy. "So, Cap'n, what should we do now?"

Troy just mumbles something, rolls over, and starts snoring again.

Yuki frowns and growls "Wake up!" as she kicks the cot over, dumping him onto the floor. Troy groans after being dumped on the floor as Yuki calmly asks, "Have I got your attention now?"

"Yeah," he mumbles from his place on the floor.

"Good. We need to make some sort of plan and figure out what happened here."

"Well, I don't know about a plan but why don't we just ask him what happened," Troy says as he points towards the boy, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Flic," he mumbles as his expression changes from curious to suspicious, "We were attacked by pirates. What does it look like happened?"

"I see that," Yuki says, "But why did they attack? Isn't this town friendly towards pirates?"

Flic turns to face them, crossing his arms and legs on the cot, "How'm I supposed to know what you pirates are thinkin'?" he complains before continuing "Sure we trade with them but only cause the Marines almost never stop here."

Seeing that both Yuki and Flic seem to be getting more agitated, Troy stands and puts a hand on Yuki's shoulder before sitting on the stool in front of Flic. "We didn't mean to upset you we're just wondering where most of the townspeople have disappeared to," he asks calmly, "It's not normal for a town to be this empty after an attack like that."

Something about Troy calms Flic so he answers, "The pirates caught everybody and hauled 'em off to the beach; they caught me too but I got loose and ran, but I gotta go back and get my friends cause they're still over there."

Suddenly Yuki thinks this boy seems much younger, far too young to be attacked and hurt like he was and too young to be thinking about fighting pirates to free his friends. "Where are your folks?" she kindly asks once he finishes speaking. He looks at her with a very confused expression so she continues, "We'll take you home. Where do you live?"

"Don't got any," Flic states flatly, "Parents at least." He pauses a moment, "Never had a mom and Dad was killed in a fight with the Marines when I was 5. All I've got is my gang, that's why I've gotta go save 'em, they're the only family I've got."

Everyone is quiet for a moment then Troy stands and walks to the window; he stands there for a moment before leaning out and whistling, loud and shrill. Yuki wonders what he's doing until she hears an equally shrill cry answering him. A few minutes later his hat drops onto his head and Crown lands on his outstretched arm. "Hey Crown," Troy says cheerfully, "I've got a favor to ask you." Crown looks at Troy for a moment before he begins preening his wings. "I was wondering if you would go take a look at the large ship anchored on the west side of the island for me. It's the one that shot at us last night, remember." Crown makes an odd purring sound as he continues to preen his wings, "Yeah, thanks a lot. Oh and be back by dusk, I think we have some planning to do," Troy continues as Crown lifts off of his arm and flies out of sight. Turning back to face them Yuki can see a crazy glint in Troy's eyes that she knows means trouble, then grinning he asks, "So who wants to help me stir-up a little trouble for our pirate friends tonight?" He sees their answering grins and continues, "Good, I think we have some revenge to plan."

* * *

**AN: **Ok, so what did you think? Did you like it? I hope so. While you're waiting for the next chapter you should head over to my deviantArt page and take a look at the character sketches that I've posted**. **Just follow the link to my homepage on my profile. Also, if anyone wants a copy of the old chapters feel free to message me and I'll gladly email them to you. And finally, don't forget to review. Until next time, Goodnight and farewell.

RusalkaHime


	6. The Beginning of Adventure Part 2

**AN: **Good evening everyone! I finally got this chapter back from my editor last night so, here it is. I hope you enjoy reading it and let me know if there's anything you think I need to fix, as always constructive criticism is appreciated.

**Disclaimer: **No, I don't own One Piece...though I do own my original characters.

* * *

**A Pirate's Tale**

**The Beginning of Adventure Part 2**

**A Tricky Trap and a Thief's Resolve**

After scouting the beach and finding out that Flic is an expert on traps, Troy has the beginnings of a plan forming in his brain; it will be a little tricky and very dangerous but it should work. Now all they have to do is wait for Crown. In the meantime they decide to return to the clinic so that Troy and Yuki can get fresh clothes and Flic can continue resting. Flic argues vehemently that he's fine but falls asleep almost as soon as they get back; while he sleeps Troy works on designing some traps while Yuki polishes her sword.

**-/-**

_Flic is running along broken, burnt streets being chased by three pirates; suddenly he disappears only to reappear right in front of the lead pirate. Flic trips him and disappears again only to reappear further down the street and keeps running. This continues for a while until a large old church can be seen ahead, running into the church Flic draws a knife from his boot and cuts a rope dropping a net onto the pirates as they enter. Turning away from the now trapped pirates, Flic ducks behind a nearby statue and down a narrow corridor leaving their angry cries far behind. At the end of the corridor he opens a secret door and slips into the large central room of the church, closing the door he turns only to find more pirates waiting for him. Running at them he draws a knife from his boot and disappears, reappearing on a bench he jumps high into the air and disappears again reappearing in the air next to the largest pirate. Flic attacks the big man with his knife but he knocks Flic to the ground with a large fist, where Flic is immediately grabbed by two strong pirates who force him to his knees on the stone floor.  
_

_"That's a pretty neat trick ya got there kid," the big man laughs loudly, "Truss him up boys and lets get going. It's high time we headed back."  
_

_As he struggles with the two pirates who are holding him no one notices Flic slide his right foot along the floor behind him and trip an almost invisible cord that is lying in the dust. There is a faint *Ping* followed by a loud *Click* somewhere above them that draws the pirates attention up towards the ceiling. While the pirates are distracted by the sound Flic pulls free and, grabbing his knife, rolls forward as a large wooden beam swings down from the ceiling knocking the two pirates that were holding him into the stone wall. Continuing to roll forward Flic disappears and reappears running strait at the big man; however before he can reach him a club comes out of nowhere and strikes him hard on the left side of his head. Flic's small body is sent flying into a bench where he lays barely conscious and unable to move while the pirates tie him up, then the big man grabs him and throws him over his shoulder while a tall blond-haired man tucks Flic's knives into his belt. As the group of pirates head out of the church Flic finally loses consciousness, at least for a little while._

_Flic awakens to the sound of cannon fire and crying; he is lying on cool sand and he can feel a fire burning somewhere nearby. When he opens his eyes everything is blurry but after a few minutes the shadows and light separate to become a campfire with a few people standing around it. He is lying on his right side with his arms bound to his sides by coarse rope; he tries but can't seem to move his arms however his legs are free so, he rolls onto his back with a soft groan. As Flic looks up he sees that he's surrounded by things that look like trees without tops, but as his eyes adjust to the darkness he realizes that the trees are really poles that have been buried in the sand. At the bases of the poles are tied the small shadowed forms of children, and some of them are crying. Flic struggles quietly for a few moments before somehow managing to sit upright but as he puts his back to one of the poles to stand he finds someone already there. He can feel a pair of legs at his back so he tilts his head backward to look up at the face that owns the legs he's leaning against; surprised he recognizes the short, dirty blond hair and bright green eyes that are looking down at him, "Dey!" he exclaims in a hushed whisper._

"_Shhh," she hisses before glancing over her shoulder at the shadows around the fire; turning back she quietly asks, "How'd they manage to catch you?" Flic tilts his head so she can see the rapidly darkening bruise on his face, "Shit…" she hisses sympathetically, "Ok, first we need to get you standing," she whispers softly as she hooks her right foot under the ropes around him and lifts him to his feet with powerful legs. "Now to get you out of those ropes," she whispers as she somehow manages to pick up a piece of shell with her foot that she holds out to him, "Here, use this," she whispers, "I found it earlier but couldn't figure out how to get it in my hand to use it."_

"_Thanks," Flic breathes as he grabs the shell from atop her shoe. It takes a few minutes to saw through the ropes but with a soft *__**snap**__* they loosen and after some wiggling Flic is free. "Ok," he whispers as he turns, "Your turn."_

_However before he even steps closer to her she places her foot on his chest and shoves him lightly, "No," she breathes, "Get out of here. You can come back for us later, maybe even get some adults to help, but they'll notice if too many of us try to leave and right now we can't beat them. You're the fastest out of all of us so you need to go get help."_

_Flic stares at her for a moment, his golden eyes wide with disbelief before he sighs and softly whispers, "It should be me saying that not you."_

_She grins, "I know boss but can't you let me play the hero just this once?"_

_Flic just smiles sadly and shakes his head as he disappears, reappearing in the deep shadows next to a broken wall. He watches the shadowed figures standing around the fire for a moment before noticing that one of them is juggling his knives. He watches the knife juggler closely until he puts the knives away and walks out of the firelight into the deeply shadowed streets. The cannons have stopped firing and it's very quiet when Flic sneaks up behind the blond juggler and stealthily removes his knives from the man's belt, but just as Flic is about to disappear back into the shadows the man quickly turns, grabbing his wrist._

_They both stand frozen for a moment, then the tall blond man growls, "You little rat, how'd you get loose?" As he gets a better look at Flic he notices the knives in the boy's hands, "You stole my knives!" he exclaims loudly. _

_This seems to free Flic from his paralysis, for the boy leans back and kicks the blond man's wrist freeing himself, "No, they're my knives and I'm taking them back," Flic responds with a growl of his own. He jumps back and tries to run when the man suddenly launches a kick at him with unbelievably long legs; Flic dodges but is being pushed back toward the beach. 'If he gets me back to the beach I'll never be able to rescue Dey and the others,' Flic thinks frantically, 'I've got to get away!' It's a desperate move but Flic decides to rush the tall blond man in hopes of surprising him, however Flic isn't prepared for the man to draw his own knife so quickly. Flic barely manages to dodge the long kris dagger as it is thrust at him and is completely caught off-guard when a second dagger appears almost out of nowhere and slashes down the right side of his face. He is thrown back into a wall by the force of the blow but somehow manages to stay on his feet and while the man is distracted by the calls of the other pirates, Flic makes his escape._

_He hurries down alleys and side streets as fast and quietly as he can, trying to put as much distance between him and the beach as possible. Flic puts away his knives and tries to concentrate on running while holding a hand over the rapidly bleeding wound but he's getting tired and sluggish, he's pretty sure it's because of the blood loss but doesn't know what he can do about it. He's stumbling by the time he gets close to the docks and is having trouble seeing clearly, which is probably why when he trips over a broken paving stone at the edge of the street he falls and doesn't get back up._

-/-

Flic wakes up suddenly, gasping for air like he's just run a marathon; it's dark in the clinic and he can hear soft murmuring coming from the front room. He stands and stretches as he walks through the open doorway into the soft light from the setting sun. Once his eyes adjust to the light he sees Troy and Yuki sitting next to a desk where the white hawk is standing and they all seem to be deep in conversation. Flic stands there watching them unnoticed until the hawk turns its head and stares at him with one pale yellow eye; Flic is frozen like a mouse under that stare until Troy turns and says, "Oh, you're awake. Come on over, we were just discussing the plan for tonight."

"Really?" Flic says excitedly as he turns from the hawk and walks over to the desk, "What did you decide to do about the traps?"

They discuss Troy's plan and the traps until dark and Flic lets Troy know that his traps are too complex in function, and that they will never work for one reason or another. The plan sounds good, though it hinges on the pirates being dumb and greedy enough to believe the lie and come ashore; Troy seems pretty confident that they'll fall for it. Flic is confident that his traps will work but he needs to get some supplies from his gang's hideout before he can set things up, so they grab their weapons and follow Flic through the broken city streets.

After walking for a while through increasingly more run down areas of town, Flic leads Troy and Yuki into an old church. Crown has been riding on Troy's shoulder the entire way and when Flic asks about it Troy answers, "Well, Crown doesn't see as well at night as he does during the day so he prefers not to fly after dark unless he has to." Flic shrugs but seems to accept the answer as he leads them into the large foyer of what was once a very grand building.

"Wow!" Troy exclaims as they enter the foyer, "This is amazing."

"Yeah, we were pretty happy when we found this place," Flic comments as he gathers up several pieces of what looks like fishing net, "It's amazing it wasn't damaged by the cannons." Once Flic scoops up the last piece of net he turns to put the pile somewhere it will be out of the way when he sees Troy pushing open the door to the central room of the church; he drops the net as he yells, "Stop! Not that way!"

Troy pauses with his hand on the door, "Huh?" he says as he looks back at Flic, suddenly there is a loud ***click*** and a whirring sound. He looks up in time to see a large brass bell falling straight at him; he knows he can't possibly move in time when suddenly his shirt collar is grabbed and he flies back just as the bell hits the stone floor with a deafening ***CLANG***.

As the ringing quiets Flic sighs, "Ya might not want to wander off by yourself in here."

Troy looks at Flic with wide eyes and says, "Ok, but can I ask how you got that bell up there?"

-/-

As Flic leads Troy and Yuki through the narrow hidden passages of the church he explains that heavy items like the bell are easy to move when you use a pulley system; he explains, "It's the same system they use on those big merchant ships to load and unload really heavy cargo."

Flic leads them to the storage rooms under the church where a pull cart blocks the hallway, "We need to load the cart with as many of those bags as'll fit," he says pointing towards a room to their left that seems to be filled with burlap sacks. "I'll also need lots of rope and that crate over there," he continues as he disappears into a room on the right side of the hall. Troy looks over at Yuki questioningly but she just shrugs and loads the crate before stepping into the small room and tossing a burlap sack out to Troy.

Troy catches the sack but his grip slips and he almost drops it, "Damn these are heavy. I wonder what's in them" he exclaims as he turns and drops the sack on the cart.

"Doesn't matter," Yuki responds calmly, "Just load the cart. Remember we don't have a lot of time to set this up."

"Yeah," Troy sighs as he catches and loads another bag, "We're running out of time."

Yuki and Troy fill the cart with burlap sacks before throwing several coils of rope on top, and just to make sure nothing falls off the cart they tie it all down tightly with another coil of rope. Just as they're finishing tying everything down Flic wanders out of the room to their right, "Great! You're done loading, let's get out of here."

"How?" Yuki asks while leaning on the back of the cart.

"Yeah," Troy agrees, "I was wondering that too. I mean there's no way we can get this thing back up those stairs."

Flic looks at them and raises an eyebrow, "Why would we go all the way back up to the church when we're headin' in the opposite direction? Come on, I'll show ya what I mean," he says as he pushes open a large set of double doors. Beyond the doors is a wide hall that slopes upward into the shadows; they push the cart steadily up the incline until they reach another set of doors and Flic tells them to step back as he unlatches the doors and they open into the tunnel.

As they exit the tunnel Troy recognizes the port that they left that morning, "Wow!" he exclaims, "That's pretty cool!"

"Yeah," Flic agrees, "I figure this is how they got supplies and stuff into the church back when the monks still lived there." Flic pauses for a moment, lost in thought before continuing, "Follow me. We'll take the fastest way to the beach."

"I'll meet you there," Troy says as Yuki starts to move the pullcart.

"What!" Flic exclaims, "We don't have time for detours."

Troy smiles, "Don't worry it's all part of the plan," he says as he jogs further into the town. He soon disappears into the dark streets, leaving Flic and Yuki staring after him.

"Don't worry," Yuki says as she places a hand on the boy's flame red hair, "I'm sure he has a plan, he always has a plan."

They watch as Troy disappears into the dark city before turning and continuing to the beach. When they arrive the moon is shining brightly in the cloudy sky so they hide the cart behind a partially collapsed building before beginning to set-up the traps.

**-/-**

Yuki works hard following all of Flic's careful instructions, setting up traps that she doesn't understand and trying desperately to figure out how all of this is going to help in the upcoming fight. She's working hard setting up this, what had Flic called it again? A deadfall? Well, she's setting it up using pulleys to lift heavy wooden beams high into the air before tying the lines off to keep them there, but she wishes that Flic would come back and tell her what needs to be done next. He disappeared right after telling her what to do and she hasn't seen him in a while; she's seriously considering going to look for him when he appears out of the shadows in front of her and waves. He quickly and silently climbs high above her and checks the lines and the placement of the beams and after making a few small adjustments he climbs back down to the ground.

"Great job," he whispers once he gets close, "I'm almost done out on the beach but I haven't seen any sign of Troy yet. Where'd he go?"

Yuki wipes the sweat from her forehead before shrugging, "Who knows?" she replies, "He'll be back soon."

As if on cue they hear a soft trilling coming from the roof behind them and look up to see a large white hawk staring down at them, "Crown," Yuki asks quietly, "Where's Troy?"

"Right here," Troy whispers behind her.

She turns quickly, "About time," she quietly replies, "Are you ready?"

He nods grinning, "Are the traps all done?"

"Yep," Flic whispers from the door to the building, "Come on, I'll show ya how to work 'em."

Yuki leans against the exterior wall of the building while she waits for Flic to finish showing Troy all the traps they've been working on; she's just about to take a little nap when she hears them coming back from the beach.

"Are you sure that will work?" Troy asks skeptically.

"Sure," Flic assures him, "Have ya ever seen what happens when you bury fireworks in the sand?"

"Is everything ready?" Yuki asks quietly as they get close.

"Yeah, we're all set," Troy answers, "Go get in position. We're finishing this tonight."

**-/-**

Yuki runs with Flic following close behind through the silent streets until they come to an open area behind some warehouses. Before them is a small ramp leading down into the dark water with several short posts and a winch in front of it. Yuki stops at the posts removing her jacket and hanging it on one before taking her sword from her belt and tying it across her back; she turns to Flic and asks, "Are you ready?"

After looking at the water he answers, "Sure, but how're we gonna to get there?"

"We'll swim," Yuki answers with her back to the boy, but she pauses before turning and asking in a serious tone, "You can swim right?"

Flic looks at her indignantly, "Of course I can!" he exclaims.

"Think you can make it all the way out to the ship?"

Flic leans to the left looking past Yuki for a moment before his form flickers and he is suddenly standing atop a post next to her, "Hmm…yeah I can make it," he says confidently.

"Good," Yuki replies with a grin, "Then all we have to do now is wait."

**-/-**

Troy grabs an oil soaked torch from the pavement and lights it as he steps up onto the seawall at the edge of the beach, then he holds it high and slowly waves it back and forth above his head as he pulls a baby den-den-mushi from the bag at his side. He sees a flicker of light from the crow's nest of the ship and he lifts the baby den-den-mushi up above his head into the light; there is a long pause before the light flickers again, this time it's a Morse code message that Troy reads as the number to the ship's den-den-mushi. Troy sits on the seawall and places the torch securely into a crack before dialing the number and listening to the rings that follow; the ringing continues for a few minutes before a tired voice answers with a yawned, "What d'ya want?"

"I was hoping to talk to your Captain," Troy says congenially, "Is he available?"

"Of course he ain't," the pirate yells back irritably.

"Oh. Well that's too bad," Troy responds as a low growl sounds behind him, "Cause my friend here says if your Captain doesn't release his friends then he's going to come and tear your ship apart." As Troy is speaking a huge wolf easily the size of a small horse walks into the light behind him and growls directly into the speaker right before Troy ends the call.

Troy watches the ship for a few minutes before suddenly lights start appearing all over it and the baby den-den-mushi starts ringing, "Yes?" Troy asks as he answers the ringing snail.

"Are you the one who said he was gonna tear my ship apart?" a gruff angry voice says as the snail adopts an irritated expression.

"No," Troy answers conversationally, "It was my large friend here. He doesn't like that you captured all his friends and neighbors."

"What friend?" the gruff voice asks, "I don't see anyone there with you."

"Really?" Troy asks surprised, "Well, let me get a little more light out here then." Troy stands, takes the torch from the wall with his free hand, and drops the lit torch on the sand; a hissing sound ensues before the beach is filled with light as the tall stakes combust suddenly. The light reveals not only the huge wolf standing next to Troy but also a large white stag and an impossibly large black lizard. "Do you see him now?" Troy asks with a smile as he ends the call.

**-/-**

As Yuki and Flic watch the ship suddenly comes to life with light and activity, shadows can be seen running across the deck and as more lanterns are lit they can see what must be the entire crew gathering on deck. Soon the pirates pile into rowboats and set out for the shore and Yuki thinks, 'He was right, as usual'.

_The setting sun casts long shadows across the floor of the front room of the small clinic while Yuki, Troy and Crown plan their next move. _

"_I'll distract them on the beach while you and Flic sneak onto the ship and free the townspeople," Troy says after drawing out some diagrams for traps._

"_How will you get them over to the beach?" Yuki asks incredulously, "They're not gonna come just cause you ask them."_

"_That won't be a problem," Troy replies while looking at the table sadly, "I've got something they want desperately, something their captain will do just about anything to get his hands on."_

_Yuki looks at him and raises an eyebrow in disbelief, "What could you have that they'd want so badly?"_

_Troy looks her in the eyes and she freezes at the intense sadness in them, "I'm a Devil Fruit user." He can tell she's confused and he sighs, "They're slave traders not pirates and Devil Fruit users bring very high prices at an auction….no matter what fruit they have."_

"_But the Slave Trade is highly illegal within the World Government," Yuki protests._

"_True," Troy says sadly, "But that doesn't mean it's not still practiced, especially by the World Nobles."_

"_Nothing is illegal for the World Nobles," Yuki growls, then in a calmer tone, "But you can't beat an entire crew of slavers by yourself, even using traps."_

"_Don't worry about that," Troy says with a sudden smile, "I've got a plan."_

_Yuki is about to ask more but suddenly Crown turns and she sees Flic in the doorway._

As she watches the rowboats swiftly glide across the dark waves Yuki realizes how right Troy was.

**-/-**

When the boats are about halfway to the beach Yuki steps towards the water and quietly says, "Come on, it's time to head out." Flic nods and silently hops down from the post he's been standing on and follows her as she slides gently into the cooling ocean. They swim for a while staying as quiet as they can and Yuki is surprised by the young boy's endurance, he's managed to keep up with her the entire swim and as they approach the large ship his breathing is heavy but still even. She puts a hand on the side of the ship to keep herself from drifting while Flic catches his breath and after a moment he closes his eyes and exhales heavily before whispering, "So, how do we get up there?"

"The same way they got down," Yuki replies as she reaches for one of the ropes used to lower the rowboats into the water. She slowly and carefully pulls it taunt before placing her feet on the ship's hull and starting to quietly walk up towards the railing, Flic watches her a moment before following her example.

Yuki is focusing so intently on keeping her steps quiet that she doesn't notice that Flic has passed her until she reaches the railing and sees him already there peaking over the edge of the deck. Yuki follows his example and spots two guards, one each on the fore and aft decks; she taps his shoulder and holds up two fingers but he shakes his head and holds up three then points up towards the crow's nest where a shadow can barely be seen. Flic points up and then at himself and Yuki nods before giving him a boost onto the deck where he crouches for a brief moment before disappearing before her eyes.

Yuki watches as Flic disappears and she tenses while she searches the deck for the flame haired boy but she catches a glimpse of him climbing the rigging and she relaxes, releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She watches as he quickly climbs to the crow's nest and disappears over the edge, a few moments later he climbs back over and down to the deck; he stays crouched on the deck for a moment before looking at her and gesturing towards the fore deck. She nods and glances that way before turning and looking at the aft deck; the watchman there is much larger than the one at the fore of the ship and she understands why Flic would want her to take care of him. She looks back at Flic and he holds up three fingers she nods and he begins to count down, 3, 2, 1, and 0.

Yuki grabs the railing and silently flips over it landing with a muffled thump on the main deck before dashing to the stairs leading up to the aft deck. She pauses at the base of the stairs for a moment then quietly slides up them onto the higher deck. Once there she sees a large man, easily twice her size and three times her weight standing at the railing and yawning obviously bored. She takes her sword from her back, closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath relaxing and preparing to strike when she hears a soft thump behind her and the large man turns and spots her.

"Huh? What are you…" he starts before Yuki suddenly opens her eyes.

She draws her sword in an instant, flipping it and striking with the back of the blade; she hits him hard across the side of his head, neck, and chest in one motion ending in a low crouch then suddenly standing and sheathing her sword. She then turns her back to the large man and says, "Peaceful Sword of the Holy Master," as he falls to the deck with a thud. She tucks her sword into her belt and calmly walks down the stairs to meet Flic on the main deck.

Yuki finds Flic with his ear to one of the doors leading off of the deck and she quietly tells him, "Troy says that they're probably keeping everyone in cells below the cannon deck."

Flic gives her an almost disbelieving look as he asks, "How does he know so much?"

"I don't know," Yuki says with a faraway look in her eyes but they harden as she continues, "But I know that we can trust him. Now let's go, we've got people to free."

**-/-**

Troy rests his left elbow on his swords as he watches the slavers pull their boats up onto the beach; he holds the torch from earlier in his right hand and behind him stands the huge black wolf. Soon all of the crew has gathered on shore are walking towards Troy with a heavily muscular man with salt and pepper grey hair in the lead; when they are about fifteen feet from him they stop and the muscular man, obviously the captain, calls out, "Surrender now Devil Fruit users, I don't like turning in damaged goods."

"How kind of you," Troy says with a grin, "But I'm afraid that I'll have to decline your offer."

The captain growls, "Well, what about the others then?"

"Huh?" Troy questions confused, "What others?"

"The Zoan users," the captain clarifies.

Troy chuckles, "Oh them! I'm sorry to have to break this to you but I'm the only Devil Fruit user here. You see I ate the Hiso Hiso no mi so I can talk to animals and I have to tell you, these guys aren't very happy with you."

The captain growls angrily, "Why you…" however before he can finish the black wolf responds with a growl of his own and starts to step over the seawall onto the beach.

The crew turns, trying to run back to their boats when suddenly the sand explodes driving them further up the beach. More explosions drive them towards the rocky forest but before they can reach it a man screams and is pulled down onto the sand; soon another man joins him while yet another is tossed into the air as the sand suddenly bursts into the air revealing a large black komodo dragon-like lizard that lunges at the fleeing crew biting legs and arms, mangling them with its razor sharp teeth. Some of the men try to fight the lizard while others try to flee by climbing onto the rocks that border the beach closer to the town. The lizard can't pursue the men onto the rocks and is being kept busy fighting those still on the beach but just as those on the rocks reach the safety of the forest the trees part revealing the wickedly sharp antlers of a large white stag. The stag rears at the slavers driving them back onto the rocks before lowering his head and attacking them with his sharp antlers; the slavers on both the rocks and the beach are now forced to fight for their lives though some decide to try running back towards the dwindling explosions.

As more and more panicked and pained screams rend the air the captain's anger shows plainly on his face, however when the wolf leaps over him to cut off the retreat of the fleeing crewmembers he really blows his top.

"Why you tricky SON OF A BITCH!" he yells as he draws the cutlass from his hip and throws himself at Troy.

Troy quickly draws both of his falcata and crosses them in front of himself, blocking the captain's wild strike as he venomously says, "I'd appreciate it greatly if you'd leave my mother out of this."

The captain growls and attempts to force Troy back over the seawall as he comments, "I'll enjoy seeing you on the auction block."

Troy's eyes grow dark in the shadow of his hat as he flatly remarks, "Not today."

**-/-**

Yuki follows as quietly as she can while Flic searches for the stairs down to the hold; they've been searching for a few minutes when Flic suddenly stops.

"What's wrong?" Yuki whispers.

Flic shakes his head before saying, "Nothing, it's just kinda strange that this door's locked when none of the others are."

Yuki is about to comment when she hears footsteps on the other side of the door, she quickly steps in front of Flic as the door opens and she finds herself eye to eye with a sleepy looking man in his thirties. He is shocked to see her standing there and he opens his mouth to cry out, but before he can utter a sound Yuki's fist crashes into the bottom of his chin knocking him unconscious. She catches him before he can fall and sets him on the step just inside the door, then she turns and motions for Flic to follow her. They creep quietly down the stairs into a dimly lit hallway where they can hear muffled crying and someone yelling; at the end of the hall is an open door and when they peek through they see a large room filled with cells containing the people from town.

A loud, angry, "Shut Up!" echoes through the space followed by a slap and the crying gets louder while several children's voices begin yelling over one another and Flic suddenly disappears from Yuki's side.

Yuki rushes through the door as Flic appears behind a dark haired man kneeling in the middle of the hall between the cells and watches as the boy furiously punches the man in the back of the head, right at the base of the skull, immediately knocking him to the floor where he stays. When she gets there Flic has gathered the small girl into his arms and is speaking quietly to her attempting to calm her. Yuki stops at the man and rolls him onto his back as she searches his pockets and after a moment finds what she is looking for, the keys. She takes half of the keys from the ring and turns saying, "Flic catch."

Flic turns and looks up from the little girl in time to catch the ring of keys Yuki tosses to him; he looks at the keys in his hand for a moment before quietly speaking to the girl, "Leela, we've gotta get everyone out of here ok?"

The little girl sniffles and looks up with big watery blue eyes and nods before wiping her face and standing.

"You ok?" Flic asks the small brown haired girl in the patched dress after she stands.

"Um-hm," she intones as she nods with a determined look in her eyes.

"Good," Flic says with a smile, "Then let's get to work," as he heads to the nearest cell and tries a key in the lock.

It takes them a few minutes to get all the cell doors open but as soon as they do they shush the chattering people and lead them up the stairs and out onto the deck. Once on deck Yuki gathers everyone around her commanding, "Everyone who is confident in their swimming ability should slide down these ropes," pointing to the ropes for lowering the rowboats, "and head towards the docks. Don't swim to the beach. Once on land you should find a place to hide."

Flic interrupts saying, "Head toward the docks. In the back of the old mission warehouse you'll find a set of trapdoors that'll lead ya to an ol' tunnel. Hide there until someone comes to get ya."

Yuki looks at him for a moment, before continuing, "Well, get going."

People head to the sides of the ship and begin sliding down the ropes into the water just as several explosions rend the quiet night air. A moment later the doors leading to the crew's quarters burst open as sleepy crewmen flood the deck to see what's wrong and their fearful cries quickly become angry as they see the escaping prisoners.

"Get back here!" one man cries as he rushes forward to grab a young woman, she screams and cringes as he reaches to grab her but he is suddenly knocked from his feet by a rope stretched across the deck in front of him. The woman runs to the side of the ship and quickly joins the others climbing down the ropes as Flic ties up the man with the rope before he can stand then he draws his knives from his boots and his form flickers before disappearing entirely.

Yuki rushes to meet the attacking crew with a cry of, "Springing Lion Slash!" as she jumps into the air and executes three perfect flips before landing and moving to the next opponent as the man she was facing falls with three slash marks diagonally across his torso. She sees two men running at her with large clubs lifted high above their heads and she raises her sword to block when they suddenly trip and she spies Flic crouched on the deck with a rope pulled taunt in his hands. She grins at him and steps up onto the back of one of the men, spring-boarding off of him while yelling, "Twisting Dragon!" as she twists her body causing it to spin as she falls towards the crowd, slicing several of them as she lands in their midst. Upon landing she drives the tip of her sword slightly into the deck on her left side while planting her feet; then she pulls the sword around behind her, passing the hilt to her right hand and continuing to drag the sword through the smooth wood until it is parallel with the toe of her right boot. Without pausing in her momentum she adds her left hand to the hilt and forces the sword upward at an angle and cries out, "Lion's Roar!" The men in front of her are thrown back by the heavy blow and several of them groan and don't rise again; the remaining men recover quickly and leap at Yuki, swords bared, ready to avenge their crewmates.

**-/-**

Flic is flickering around the deck using ropes cut from the rigging to trip and tie up one or two men at a time. He has just dropped a cargo net onto a group of four when he hears a familiar scream, looking across the deck he sees Leela being picked up by a large man who is attempting to hit a lanky blond girl with a club. Flic quickly runs along the rigging and throws himself down onto the man's back, stabbing him in the shoulder with his knives and forcing him to drop Leela.

"Dey catch!" he cries as Leela falls to the deck.

The blond girl rushes forward and slides across the deck catching the small girl and continuing to slide through the man's legs before jumping to her feet and running towards the other children and the few people that can't swim well enough to get to the docks.

Flic pulls his knives free just in time to dodge the large man's attempt at grabbing him, and he jumps down from his shoulders slicing the man's arm as he falls past it. Flic turns to attack the man again but is suddenly struck in the chest by the club and sent flying into the cabin wall; he struggles to catch his breath and stand as the man rushes towards him but the man is much faster than his size should allow. Flic closes his eyes in anticipation of the blow but it never comes, so he opens his eyes and sees a sword holding the club back. Looking to the side he sees Yuki standing there with her sword extended almost casually, blocking the heavy club.

"You alright kid?" she asks in an almost bored tone, he nods while taking deep breaths and she says, "Good." Turning Yuki adjusts her grip on the hilt of the sword, slicing through the wooden club and up the man's chest; he falls as blood spurts from the wound in his chest and lays still. Yuki turns and helps Flic to his feet then says, "There's another rowboat at the back of the ship that they can use to get to the docks if they need it. Get them out of here."

Flic nods as he says, "Thanks," and runs towards the small group of people left on the large slave ship.

Meanwhile Yuki turns back to the remaining slavers and asks darkly, "Now where were we?"

**-/-**

Troy and the slaver's captain stay locked in their stalemate for several minutes until Troy manages to twist aside letting the captain overbalance himself and fall to the sand. The captain picks himself up dusting the sand from his hands as Troy chuckles nearby, the sound enrages him and he swings the cutlass up quickly. Troy dodges to the side, rolling over the seawall and turns running into the streets of the town with the captain following close behind.

"Get back here ya little shit!" the captain yells as he chases Troy through the streets, he turns a corner quickly and can't see Troy anywhere, "Come out, come out wherever ya are," he says in a gruff sing-song. After looking for a few minutes he yells, "Where'd ya go brat?"

"Right here," Troy states calmly as he swings down from an archway, kicking the captain in the chest and sending him flying back through a broken window. Troy releases the arch and lands nimbly on the window sill but quickly dives off of it and over the captain when he attempts to bring his cutlass down on Troy's head. Troy rolls as he lands and is forced to keep rolling as the captain continually stabs at him with the cutlass; during his rolling Troy manages to throw a rock at the captain giving him the opportunity to roll to his feet and draw his falcata again. Troy spreads his arms wide before bringing the swords together with a cry of, "Razor Beak!" The captain barely manages to dodge Troy's attack by ducking under it and counters with his own strike at Troy's legs. Troy dives forward over the captain spinning in the process and crying, "Twin Spinning Swords!" However his aim is slightly off and he just barely grazes the captain across his back.

The captain rolls forward as he yells, "Shit!" Then stands and turns with a growl before charging Troy, holding the cutlass in both hands as he brings it down on Troy's head.

Troy isn't expecting such a strong attack after the way the fight has been going and barely manages to dodge the worst of it, though still earning himself a long cut down his right arm. He hisses in pain as his back bumps into one of the building's supports and he sheathes the falcata in his left hand so he can apply pressure to the wound. "Damn. You're tougher than I thought, old man," Troy hisses painfully.

"That's right," the old captain assures proudly, "So why don't ya just give up now b'fore I have to hurt ya more."

"Hmm," Troy responds as he rips his sleeve, quickly wrapping it around his arm and tying it off with his teeth, "Nope, I don't think I will." He takes the falcata from his right hand and turns running up a set of stairs on his left with the captain close behind. At the top of the stairs Troy cuts a rope dropping a heavy sandbag onto the stairs directly in front of the captain, it doesn't hit him but it does slow him down. By the time the captain gets to the top of the stairs Troy is across the room climbing a ladder up to an open loft; the captain scurries quickly to the ladder and is just starting to climb it when Troy turns and pushes the ladder away from the ledge, dropping it and the captain to the floor below.

"Damn it boy," the captain growls angrily from the floor, "You can't hide up there forever."

"I don't intend to," Troy replies as he stands next to a rope and catches his breath. The roof above him is half gone and there are several holes in the floor of the loft making it quite unstable, but Troy stands tall and grins confidently as he says, "Goodbye captain," and cuts the rope he's standing next to. Troy runs for the hole in the roof as a whizzing sound fills the air and as he pulls himself onto the roof the building trembles and the captain cries out in surprise. The building shakes violently as the trap that Flic and Yuki made knockout the supports that were weakened by the slaver's attack the night before; during this shaking Troy is trying desperately to run across the roof to escape the building's imminent collapse. He plans to leap onto the roof of a neighboring building however, as he jumps the roof falls out from under his feet.

**-/-**

Yuki is slicing her way through the crew of slavers while concentrating on not getting injured when she suddenly feels the sharp pain of a knife being stabbed into her left shoulder. She hisses in pain and loses her grip on her sword for a brief moment, but that moment is what the slavers have been looking for; a large group rushes towards her while the man who stabbed her pulls the knife free, but she quickly adjusts her grip on the green wrapped hilt of her katana and swings shouting, "Charging Phoenix Cannon!" The swing is somewhat wild and nowhere near as powerful as it should be but it forces the crew back; she turns her head and sees the knife being brought down again and prepares herself for the blow only to see the man fall to the side as Flic kicks him in the head.

Yuki watches as Flic fights with the knife wielding man before turning back to her own fight; her left arm hurts but she forces it to move. There aren't many slavers left by now and she's pretty sure that given enough time she and Flic can handle them, at least until she hears a loud thud and a groan from Flic's direction. She glances over where he is fighting to see him laid on the deck, surrounded by slavers. One of the men is holding a sword high above his head ready to bring it down upon the flame haired boy when a beige streak crosses the deck and the man is sent flying; another man follows the first, while yet another is knocked straight up into the air and Yuki can finally see who this fighter is.

Yuki recognizes the fighter as one of the children in Flic's gang though she looks very different from when they set her free; she seems to be a rabbit Zoan because she is covered in light beige colored fur with large rabbit feet and ears. However as the rabbit girl pulls Flic to his feet Yuki is forced to concentrate on her own fight once again. With the help of the rabbit girl it's not long before they manage to finish beating the last of the slavers; however as they do they hear a rumbling from the town.

"Looks like he finally set off the trap," Flic comments wearily.

Yuki looks at him confused, "What trap?"

Flic sits on the deck as he explains, "The trap we set up in that old building off of the beach. Troy's plan was to lead any of the slavers that got past whatever he had planned for them at the beach into it before dropping it on their heads."

"So," The rabbit girl asks in disbelief, "You rigged a building to collapse?"

"Yep. But I can't take too much credit for it, it was all Troy's idea," Flic states as he stands and stretches.

"Well, let's get back and make sure that idiot didn't get himself buried in his own trap," Yuki suggests as she ties a piece of black cloth, ripped from her shirt, around the wound on her shoulder.

"How are we getting back?" the rabbit girl asks as she changes back to her human form.

"We'll swim," Yuki says simply.

The girl looks nervous as she says, "I can't swim."

Yuki sighs as she says, "Fine. Hold onto me and I'll carry you back. By the way, I never got your name."

"Dey," the girl says a little brighter.

"I'm Yuki," Yuki says as she uses one arm to lift the blond haired girl onto her back, "Now let's get back on land."

**-/-**

The beach is a mess of scorch marks and injured slavers when Yuki, Flic and Dey walk out of the waves. The injured slavers are huddled in a circle while a large white stag, a huge black lizard, and a huge black wolf stand nearby seemingly guarding them. Yuki raises an eyebrow but says nothing while the two children with her look on both amazed and frightened. Yuki continues walking up the beach towards the town with Flic and Dey following her, only stopping when the wolf steps into her path; she starts to walk around him when it suddenly growls, she raises her head and glares at it through wet black hair as she rests her left hand on her sword. They stand there staring at each other until they hear a screech in the air above them and they both look up at the same time.

"Hey Crown," Yuki says when she sees the white hawk circling above her while the wolf answers with a harsh bark. Crown circles once more before landing on the seawall in front of them. He trills a few times and the wolf relaxes, sitting on the sand as Yuki takes her hand off of her sword. She steps around the wolf and asks, "So, where's Troy?" Crown makes a sound almost like a chuckle before taking off and flying into the dark streets.

Crown stays close to the buildings as he leads Yuki and the two children through the streets before landing on the edge of a one story building next to a large pile of rubble.

Yuki looks at the pile in disbelief as she asks Flic, "Is this the building I set all those deadfalls up in?"

"Yeah," he answers with his eyes wide, "Though I never thought it would do this much damage."

"Don't tell me that idiot actually got himself buried in this," Yuki says with a worried expression.

"Almost," Troy says wearily as he makes his way over the rubble. He's bruised and his right arm is bleeding under a makeshift bandage but he is very much alive. "So how'd things go on your end?" he asks as he sits in front of them.

"Not bad Captain," Yuki says with a sigh, "All the prisoners were freed and got away safely and we only took minor injuries. If none of the slavers on your end got away then I'd call this operation a complete success."

Troy grins up at her, "Great, then let's go find some food and get some sleep. I'm beat," he continues as he closes his eyes and leans back against what's left of a support beam.

"Sure Captain," Yuki chuckles, "Whatever you say."

"So, we won?" Flic asks innocently looking from Troy to Yuki then back to Troy.

Troy opens his eyes and sees the apprehension showing plainly in the boy's golden eyes, "Yeah kid, we won," he says with a grin.

The flame haired boy turns and looks into the bright green eyes of the young blond girl next to him before grinning broadly and jumping into the air yelling, "WE WON!" as loudly as he can. Yuki sits next to her captain as the girl with short dirty blond hair wearing blue pants, a red tank top, and red sneakers joins him in yelling before they both run off into the town alerting everyone that the battle was won. As the sky begins to lighten over the battered city two weary pirates sleep as the citizens awaken to the cries of two children and rejoice.

* * *

**AN: **Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter in our young heroes(?) lives**. **I'm working on the next chapter as we speak and I hope to have it posted by the end of the month. Anyway, it's late here and I really need to get to bed so, goodnight.

RusalkaHime**  
**


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